“A collection of profound and epic album reviews and musical articles by former astronaut and brain surgeon, Alasdair Kennedy. Reaching levels of poetry that rival Keats and Blake, the following reviews affirm Alasdair to be a prodigy, a genius and a god whose opinion is always objectively right. He is also without a doubt the most modest man in the universe.” - Alasdair Kennedy

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Wednesday, 24 June 2015

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 24/06/2015: Thundercat, Duran Duran, Janet Jackson and more...

Excuse the lack of distorted guitars. I've been in a summery, poppy mood this week. Here are my favourites and not-so-favourites from the last seven days.

THE BEST:

'Them
Changes' - Thundercat ft. Flying Lotus & Kamasi Washington

I expected some slinky jazz funk given the production credits,
but nothing could have prepared me for the groovy mother of all basslines
sported in this track. As usual, Thundercat injects the lyrics with his own
warped sense of humour. The song turns out to be about losing one’s heart,
literally: ‘Nobody move. There’s blood on
the floor/ And I can’t feel my heart’.

'Pressure Off' - Duran Duran ft. Janelle Monae & Nile Rodgers

Rustle yourself up some cocktails and get the barbecue smoking. This new pop anthem from new wave legends Duran Duran has got me right in the summer mood. Funk guitar idol Nile Rodgers and neo-soul queen Janelle Monae add to the feelgood factor.

'Gold' - Kiiara

The chopped up vocals that kick this song off will either strike you as annoying or creative. Personally it’s this Illinois singer’s sweet vocal tone that’s drawing me in, the inflection reminding me a lot of Danish pop singer MØ. It perfectly suits the smooth but icy beat (I love that canyon-reverb click noise!)

'Everybody Knows' - Injury Reserve

Injury Reserve claim to be the ‘only good rap act in Arizona’, which is a bold statement to make, but I’ll roll with it seeing as I can’t think of any other Arizona hip hop artists off the top of my head. ‘Everybody Knows’ is their latest track and comes with an eccentric attitude and left-field instrumental.

'Down
For This' - Vanessa Elisha

Australian r&b singer Vanessa Elisha delivers this spacey
slowjam with a glitzy hook and lots of 808s. I wasn't too sure about it at first but then the chorus hit and floored me.

THE WORST:

'No Sleeep' - Janet Jackson

No sleep? Give this song a whirl and you’ll soon be out for
the count. A lot of people (mostly hardcore Jackson fans I feel) have been hyping this track up, but it just strikes me as dull 80s lounge-revivalism
without any kind of catchiness or flair.